Brotherhood
by ArtistKurai
Summary: When Nagini attacks Snape during the battle, he uses the last of his magic to send his two favorite students somewhere they'll be safe from the fighting. Harry and Draco are found by some hunters that give them a helping hand, which has an impact nobody could have predicted. No slash to be found here.
1. Part One

A/N: Hello, my loves. It's been a minute, hasn't? I'm so excited about this story! It's my first finished crossover! Before we start, here's how the timeline for this is going to work. It's all getting shifted 9 years forward. Instead of the students starting their first year in 1991, it's starting in 2000. This will put the Battle of Hogwarts in May of 2007, which was when Sam got taken with the other psychic kids to Cold Oak. Details, however, will be taken from the books, though I haven't finished reading all the books yet. So there's probably going to be a little overlap with the films. If you see any details that I get wrong bookwise, please let me know so I can correct them. I researched the details, but there might still be a few errors. Thanks for helping me out with that!

Disclaimer: Whoo! Coffee!

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"Nagini, kill," the raspy voice of Voldemort commanded, and Harry Potter watched in horror as the giant snake attacked his potions professor. He heard his best friends gasping behind him, but he couldn't pay them any mind. Once he was sure the coast was clear, Harry snuck over to his dying teacher's side.

"Take them," Snape whispered, his voice weak and almost inaudible. Harry was confused until he saw the tears dripping from the teacher's eyes. "Take them."

"Give me a flask, anything!" Harry demanded, and he turned to take the small potion vial Hermione was handing him.

"Severus!" another voice cut through the quiet, startling Harry, who was pocketing the vial of tears.

"Draco," Snape rasped. The blond teenager dropped down next to Harry, barely noticing the other student's presence. With stilted movements, Snape took both boys by the hand. "Take care of each other," he pleaded desperately. "You're family. Take care of each other." Both boys stared at their professor in disbelief, which multiplied tenfold when the man started mumbling under his breath. "Familia salus mea, familia salus mea, familia salus mea." As he repeated the chant, Snape's voice increased in volume until there was a blinding white light and the three disappeared, leaving Hermione and Ron standing in slack-jawed shock.

When the light faded, Harry and Draco opened their eyes to find themselves on an unfamiliar road, surrounded by trees. A gargled cough brought their attention back to the dying man before them.

"Take care of each other," Snape begged again. His teary eyes settled on Draco's own tear-streaked face. "I always thought of you as a son," he whispered, making the boys cry even harder. Then Snape's eyes moved to Harry. "You have your mother's eyes."

Harry and Draco were struck dumb by that statement. But they were brought back when Snape spoke once more. "I love you both." With those words, Severus Snape breathed his last breath and departed from the world.

Neither teenager gave their surroundings any thought. There was no unfamiliar road surrounded by trees, they weren't enemies fighting on opposite sides of a war. They were just two teenagers, two boys, who just watched their teacher, someone that loved them unconditionally, die in their arms.

Draco and Harry didn't know how long they sat there, kneeling by Snape's body. They were barely aware of their hands clasped together, trying desperately to cling to something familiar as they mourned their shared loss.

A low rumbling caught the boys' attention, and when they looked up they saw that the sky had gotten much darker. Whereas earlier the sky was still dusky, it was now pitch black. Harry stood slowly and drew his wand. "Lumos," he muttered, shedding some light on the area around them. Looking behind him, Harry saw that Draco had his own wand in his hand and was hovering protectively over Snape's body. As the rumbling drew closer, Harry could detect something big catching the soft light from his wand.

"It's a car," he informed Draco, forgetting in his urgency that Draco might not even know what a car was. Harry could hear faint music coming from the car as it barreled down the road. He quickly doused the light, but kept his wand in hand just in case.

Then the car slowed down and stopped not far from the boys and two men got out. One was young, maybe ten years older than the teenagers. The other man was older and a thick beard covered his face. The man's beard fleetingly made Harry think of Hagrid, and he felt a pang of longing for his much larger friend.

"You guys okay?" the younger man asked in concern, surprising Harry and Draco with his American accent.

"Where, where are we?" Harry stammered helplessly. The strangers seemed to be equally surprised by his accent as he was by theirs.

"Nebraska," the young man spoke again. "Not far from the South Dakota border. How did you get here? And who's that with you?"

"Um- I'm, I'm Harry," Harry introduced himself. He ignored Draco hissing at him to shut up. "I don't really know how we got here. We just... appeared here." Technically, it was true. Harry didn't have a clue how Snape brought them here.

"Who are you guys?" Draco demanded threateningly. The men turned their attention to Draco and were slightly taken aback by his ferocity.

"I'm Dean," the younger of the two introduced himself. "This is my friend Bobby."

"You boys look like you could use some help," Bobby said, speaking for the first time. His voice was just as gravelly as Dean's.

"We're just fine, thanks," Draco spat, hoping the strange men would go away and leave them be.

"No offense, kid, but I call bull," Dean deadpanned.

"Why don't you boys come with us?" Bobby offered. "We can get you somewhere safe."

"Hold up, we're kind of on a time crunch here, Bobby," Dean protested.

"The sooner they decide, the sooner we can get out of here and get to Sam."

"We're not going anywhere with them, Potter," Draco said quietly, his voice only low enough for Harry to hear.

"What other choice do we have?" Harry demanded. "We're in America of all places, and Snape is dead. What else are we supposed to do? Can you apparate us back to Hogwarts?" Draco looked away silently. "That's what I thought." Draco glared back at Harry. There was silence as the Slytherin deliberated the Gryffindor's words.

As much as he hated to admit it, Draco knew Harry was right. They had no clue where they were (Nebraska near the South Dakota border told him nothing) and the only person that could possibly guide them was dead.

"Fine," Draco relented with a roll of his steel gray eyes. "But if they do anything, I won't hesitate to throw an AK at them."

"Hey, I'll throw one at the other one," Harry agreed readily. This momentarily surprised Draco, though it really shouldn't have. After everything they'd both seen and been through, neither of them were any stranger to death or doing whatever it took to survive.

The blond teenager slowly rose from his crouched position and faced the two men. "Whoa," Dean muttered, taking half a step back. "What happened here?" He pointed a finger at the body lying prone behind the boys, who turned saddened eyes to the body.

"That was our teacher," Harry answered. "The one that brought us here."

"How did he die?" Dean asked gently.

"That cursed snake," Draco grumbled hatefully. Harry turned surprised eyes to his classmate.

"Did you actually see what happened?" he asked with curiosity.

Draco shook his head forlornly. "No. But I've seen what a person looks like after being attacked by Nagini. Nothing else could've done that to Severus." There was a silent pause. "Did, did you see what happened?"

Harry nodded. "Voldemort ordered Nagini to kill Snape. She attacked him over and over again. Ron, Hermione, and I saw the whole thing." Both teens began crying again as they stood over their teacher.

"You know," a gentle voice broke the silence, catching the boys' attention. "We can bring him with us if you want, help you bury him," Dean offered. Draco and Harry had a silent conversation before accepting the offer. Surprising the boys, Dean stepped up to Snape and carefully lifted him into his arms. Bobby had the trunk of the car open and the teenagers watched the younger man carry their teacher to the car.

They followed slowly. Draco felt anger welling inside him. He might not know what exactly a car was, but he could see perfectly that his favorite teacher was being stowed away like luggage.

"Are we just going to let them stash him away like that?" he demanded in a whisper. He barely heard Dean offering to let them have a moment with their teacher before joining Bobby in the front seat.

"There's nothing else we can do," Harry tried to reason. "He can't fit inside the car with all four of us, no matter how big the backseat is. But we can cast a cushioning charm so it at least feels like he's not just stashed away in the boot."

Though reluctant, Draco did as Harry suggested and cast a cushioning charm on the trunk's interior. He added a stasis charm as well to prevent anything from happening to Snape's body before they could give him a proper burial. Nodding his approval, Harry moved to the side of the car and opened the door so he could slide into the backseat. He purposely left the door open for Draco, who joined him a moment later.

"You guys ready?" Dean asked softly. Harry nodded absently without making eye contact, which Dean took as his cue to take off.

Draco was mildly surprised at the speed they were traveling, but he couldn't bring himself to give it anymore thought. He was far from home, on another continent, with only Harry Potter and a dead Severus Snape for company. He cast a quick glance at the boy next to him, who looked just as miserable as Draco felt.

 _Well, they say misery loves company,_ Draco though bitterly. Leaning his head against the window, he let the weariness he'd been keeping at bay wash over him and lull him into sleep.

As he drove, Dean was cursing himself in his head. Why did he think bringing two lost, scared teenagers with him and Bobby to Cold Oak was a good idea?

 _Because you're a sucker for a kid in need and you know it,_ a voice he valiantly tried to ignore answered his question. Glancing in the rearview mirror, Dean saw that the two boys had gone to sleep.

 _Probably a good thing,_ Dean thought sympathetically. _Especially after what they've been through._

"How much longer to Cold Oak, Bobby?" Dean murmured, hoping for a distraction of some sort.

"Couple more hours," Bobby figured, looking over the map in his hands.

It wasn't working. Dean cursed again, though this time out loud. "Is it really a good idea to bring those kids with us?" he finally asked, unable to contain it any longer. "I mean, they're kids, Bobby."

"Would you rather've just left them there?" Bobby retorted, knowing good and well that the younger man would do no such thing. The father in him wouldn't let that happen.

"Of course not," Dean grumbled. "But this can't be all that much safer, can it?"

"Better than leaving them alone in the woods with their dead teacher." Dean couldn't deny the truth of Bobby's words, so he just left it.

No more was said until the group finally arrived just a couple miles outside of Cold Oak. "Hey, wake up back there." Draco and Harry jumped up at the sound of Dean's voice and looked around, trying to figure out where they were. The men threw open their doors and shot to their feet, both of them tucking guns into their jeans. "You guys stay here," Dean ordered. "We don't know what we might be walking into here, so just stay in the car where it's safe." Then they slammed the front doors closed, leaving Harry and Draco in silence.

The silence was broken not a minute later by Harry opening his own door and jumping out. "Potter!" Draco called after him. When he didn't get an answer, Draco rolled his eyes and ran after his classmate.

Running down the faded dirt road after the older men, Harry and Draco drew their wands and took in their surroundings. All around them were trees, and not far away they could see a horribly dilapidated town. The whole town looked as though it could fit inside the Great Hall at Hogwarts. The boys shook the thought from their minds. Thinking of Hogwarts would do no good. As they approached the town, Draco and Harry saw Dean and Bobby walking toward two other men, who were fighting. The taller one had just thrown the one in what looked like a military uniform into a fence. He didn't get back up.

"Sam!" Dean shouted, and the taller man turned around.

"Dean!" Sam called back, a relieved smile on his face as he approached Dean and Bobby.

A movement behind Sam caught the teenagers' eyes. Turning their gaze, they saw the soldier sneaking up behind Sam. There was something long and sharp in his hand.

Dean must have noticed this as well, because he started running frantically. "Sam, look out!"

Without a thought, Harry and Draco ran forward as well, wands in hand.

"Expelliarmus!"

"Protego!"

Two voices rang out simultaneously, and the soldier sneaking up on Sam was thrown backwards as the object in his hand was thrown to the side. Then the boys found two pistols aimed at them.

"What just happened?" Dean demanded. "What did you do?"

Draco and Harry stood in stunned silence. They hadn't even noticed they'd moved until the spells left their lips. They'd been hoping to hide their magic for as long as possible! Who knew what these muggles would do to them?!

"Answer me!" Dean's firm voice brought the boys out of their panicked thoughts.

"We're wizards," Harry confessed reluctantly.

"Shut it, Potter!" Draco spat beside him.

"Well they already saw us using magic!" Harry argued. "What are we supposed to do?"

"How about obliviate them and run?"

"And how good are you at memory charms? Because, personally, I'm not that great at them."

"What about our agreement to AK them if they try anything?"

"They technically haven't tried anything with us, Malfoy. They saw us using magic and they reacted. Would an AK really be necessary here?"

"I'd say so." Draco turned back to the Americans, who all looked decidedly confused.

"I don't think they know what we're talking about," Harry observed.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" Bobby's tone told them it wasn't a suggestion.

Silence fell once more as the teenagers considered how to explain who they were. "My name is Harry Potter," Harry began, "and this is Draco Malfoy." Draco rolled his eyes in annoyance, but he didn't say anything. "We're both wizards, students at a magical school in Scotland."

"How did you get your powers?" Bobby asked.

"We were born with them," Draco explained. "Our parents were witches and wizards, as were their parents and grandparents before them."

"And some people just develop a magical core, without having magical parents. My own mum was from a nonmagical family, and she was a witch."

"So," Dean began after a moment, "no dark magic, nobody made any deals for powers?"

"Um, if by dark magic you mean the dark arts, then we have plenty of that," Draco answered awkwardly. "And dark witches and wizards make deals with each other all the time. Pacts, betrothals, things that will make good connections with other magical families."

"You do arranged marriages?" Harry asked in surprised confusion.

"Yeah. Why do you think Pansy Parkinson was always following me around?" Draco deadpanned.

"You and Parkinson?" Harry had to laugh.

"Not bloody likely."

"They don't have a clue what we're talking about, Dean," Sam spoke up for the first time. "They didn't make any demon deals for their magic. They're just kids."

"I wish," Harry muttered under his breath. Only Draco heard him.

Thankfully, the older men put their guns away and Draco and Harry could drop their arms. "How about we go back to your house, Bobby? Sam suggested. "Sort out what we're doing now." Agreeing that this was their best plan, all five piled into the Impala. It was a bit of a shuffle trying to figure out how they were all going to fit in the backseat since everyone was so tall. But Harry knew Draco wouldn't be comfortable sitting next to a muggle for who knew how long, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and scooted to the middle, leaving Sam to sit behind the driver and Draco behind the passenger seat.

Again, nobody said anything as Dean drove to Bobby's house. The wizards were grateful for this. They weren't up to anymore questions. When they arrived at Singer Salvage, the group got out of the car and made their way inside.

"Wait," Draco stopped and drew everyone's attention to himself. "What about Severus?"

Sam's nose wrinkled in confusion, but Dean understood what Draco was talking about. In solemn silence, he opened the trunk of the Impala and gently lifted Snape's body into his arms. A look of understanding came over Sam when he saw the sorrow on the teenagers' faces. "Come on," he said softly to the boys. "Let's go on inside."

The group slowly trekked up the steps and into the house, Dean moving toward the study with Snape. Draco and Harry trailed behind him, neither wanting to let their teacher out of their sight.

After gently laying the body on the couch, Dean stepped back so the boys could sit close to their teacher. The hunter couldn't help but wonder what had brought the strange group to Nebraska of all places and what could have caused such injuries on the older wizard. Or, Dean assumed he was a wizard. Harry had said they went to a magic school and that Snape was their teacher.

"Hey, Sammy," Dean began softly, turning to his brother. "Let's go get started on the pyre." Sam gave a solemn nod of agreement and the brothers walked out to the woods behind Bobby's house, leaving Bobby to keep an eye on the teenagers.

A few hours passed before the Winchesters returned. They found the study in a similar state as they had left it. The only difference was Draco and Harry. They had moved closer to each other and now were resting their heads against the couch.

As much as Dean didn't want to disturb them, he knew they needed to put Snape to rest. "Whenever you're ready, we can give him a funeral."

Neither boy answered, but Harry rose to his feet after a few moments, leaving Draco on the floor. "Draco," he said gently, placing a hand on the blond's shoulder. "We need to bury him. You know Snape wouldn't want to stay here under stasis for the rest of eternity."

When Draco finally lifted his head, Harry noted tears glistening on his cheeks. He didn't say anything about it. He knew after Sirius's death, he'd been a blubbering mess for days. _No, don't think about Sirius._

Turning to the hunters, Harry noticed a large sheet in Sam's arms. With a respectful nod to the teenagers, Sam and Dean stepped forward and began to wrap Snape in the sheet, preparing his body for the funeral. That done, Dean quietly led Harry and Draco out to the woods, Sam trailing behind with Snape in his arms.

The boys were met by a tall stack of wood, the purpose of which didn't escape either of them. They stopped a little ways away from the pyre, though Sam continued past them and laid Snape atop the wood before rejoining the others.

Reaching into the pocket of his leather jacket, Dean produced a lighter. "Want me to do it?" he offered kindly. Neither teenager answered, but they both raised their wands. "Incindio," they spoke simultaneously, and flames appeared at the base of the pyre, quickly catching the wood and growing into a large fire.

The four men stood silently as they watched the fire burn. The brothers stood behind the teenagers out of respect for their loss. "I always though of him as a second father," Draco whispered under his breath, voice choked with tears.

The broken words strengthened Harry's own tears, and he reached up to place a hand on his companion's shoulder. They watched as a brilliant white glow grew from the center of the pyre, momentarily blinding the group before disappearing in a flash. "Snape's magical core," Harry realized.

Hearing Harry's voice right by his ear grounded Draco and brought him out of his trance. He felt the hand on his shoulder, the most kindness he'd been shown in he didn't know how long. Standing there with his school rival and sworn enemy, Draco let go of all his prejudices and beliefs, none of which had really been his own. Instead, he embraced what he wanted to believe, what he knew was right. And he knew in that moment, his most trusted ally was none other than the boy standing beside him.

Draco reached across his chest and clapped his hand on Harry's in an act of solidarity, and a brotherhood was formed. It was the two of them now, for better or worse.

The fire died down as the morning passed, eventually leaving a stack of charred wood and a pile of ash. Draco wordlessly dropped his hand and turned to glance at Harry. Seeing a new determination in the other boy's eyes, a determination that matched his own, Draco looked back toward the smoking remains. "We have work to do."

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A/N: So? Whatcha think? I do okay for my first crossover? Please let me know in a review. See you guys tomorrow for part 2. Thanks for reading!


	2. Part Two

A/N: Good morning, dears. Or whatever time of day it is were you are. It's morning for me. Enjoy part 2!

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday, I made up quite a few spells for this story, so if you don't recognize something, I probably made it up.

Disclaimer: I need food and more sleep.

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The trek back to Bobby's was just as quiet as the walk to the woods, but it wasn't nearly as tense. 

When they got back inside, the boys found the grizzled hunter leaning over his desk avidly studying something. "What'cha looking at, Bobby?" Dean asked. 

"Map," the older man answered gruffly. The younger hunters stepped up to the desk to get a closer look at the map. 

"Wyoming?" asked Sam. Bobby proceeded to explain the system of churches built and the railway Samuel Colt laid out to connect them, creating a state-wide devil's trap. 

A sudden noise from outside caught everyone's attention and they immediately became silent. "Hey," Dean whispered to the teenagers. "Can you see if there's anyone outside?" 

Draco nodded tightly and raised is want. "Homenum revelio." He aimed the spell at the window and Harry rushed over to see if the spell revealed anyone. 

"There's a woman outside," he reported. 

"A woman?" Sam asked, exchanging confused glances with his brother and friend. "Can you tell what she looks like?" 

"About 5'5", long hair." Harry peered out the window again. "Maybe late 30s? I can't really see much detail." 

"Does that sound like Ellen to you?" Dean asked the room, glancing between the other hunters. 

Without answering, Bobby and the brothers rushed to the door to intercept their visitor, leaving Harry and Draco in silence. 

Not a minute later, the teenagers could hear relieved voices talking over each other from the back door before the men returned to the study with a woman in her thirties. They watched as the adults sat around Bobby's desk and older hunter poured something into a shot glass and passed it to the woman. 

"Bobby, is this really necessary?" the woman asked tiredly. 

"It's just a belt of holy water," Bobby responded, his tone tinged with threatening sarcasm. "Shouldn't hurt." With a defiant glare, the woman swallowed the water and slid the glass back. 

"Whiskey now, if you don't mind," she requested dryly. As she drank the shot of liquor, she noticed the teenagers sitting quietly on the couch, trying to stay out of the way. "Boys, you going to introduce me to your new friends?" 

"This is Harry and Draco," Sam introduced. "Dean and Bobby found them last night on the way to Cold Oak. Their teacher brought them here, but he was killed." Sam shot a look at the teens, and they shook their heads imperceptibly. They didn't want this stranger knowing they were wizards. "So we brought them here for their safety. Guys, this is our friend Ellen." 

"Nice to meet you boys," Ellen greeted them pleasantly. The boys gave her a polite nod in return. "So tell me what's been going on. Ash was telling me he'd found something on the demon and was going to call you boys." 

"Demon?" Harry and Draco questioned in shock. "You're fighting a demon?" Harry continued. "When were you going to tell us this?" 

Ellen looked in surprise at the boys. "You're a long way from home, aren't you?" 

"Never mind that," Harry cut in. 

"What did you mean about a demon?" Draco added to the discussion. "Were you even going to tell us?" 

"A demon killed our mother when we were kids," Dean explained. "He's the one that kidnapped Sam and took him to Cold Oak. We've been hunting it down since I was four." 

"Why did he kidnap you, Sam?" asked Harry. "What did he want with you?" 

"Dunno," answered Sam, drawing all eyes to him. He answered that just a little too quickly. 

"Sam?" Dean prompted insistently. 

The younger Winchester was quiet. He hated having all the attention on himself. "He," he began slowly, not wanting to say anything. But he knew he had to if they wanted to finally catch the monster and avenge their parents. "He wanted me and the others kids like me to fight to the death to determine who would lead his demon army." All the eyes that were on Sam widened in disbelief. "He gave all of us..." Sam paused, trying to keep the tears at bay. "He fed us his blood. When he came into our rooms when we were six months old, he fed us demon blood. That's how we got our powers." 

Dean stood up and began pacing, a hand coming up to run down his eyes and settle over his mouth. "I can't believe it. And Dad never mentioned a thing." 

"You mean John knew this had happened to Sam and he never told anybody?" Bobby demanded. He sat back in his chair, cursing John Winchester. "Stubborn idjit Winchesters." The teenagers smirked a bit at Bobby's pronunciation. 

"Name one time he did share his findings with another hunter," Ellen grumbled. Bobby rolled his eyes in agreement, but Sam and Dean did not. 

The youngest hunters had looks of hurt on their faces, tears glistening in their eyes. It didn't go unnoticed. "Boys?" Bobby questioned in the same tone Dean had used minutes ago. "What aren't you telling us?" 

There was only silence as the brothers fought an inner battle, debating in their own minds whether or not they wanted to reveal this secret they'd been carrying for a year. They knew it wouldn't do anything but make Bobby and Ellen mad, probably the teenagers as well. But they also knew the older man would be getting the truth out of them one way or another. So, after a silent conversation comprised of long glances, eyebrow quirks, and head tilts, the brothers came to their decision. 

"Dad did tell somebody," Sam confessed softly. Confusion filled the room. "Just not all of it." Dean retook his seat and hid his face in his hands. "Just before he died, while Dean was still in the hospital, he told Dean to watch out for me. He said he had to save me, or he would have to kill me." 

Everyone in the room was stunned. They certainly weren't expecting to hear that. Thoughts were running rampant in everyone's minds, trying to process what they'd just heard but not quite able to do so. The first one to break the silence surprised everyone. 

"He really said that to you?" Draco growled softly, his gray eyes boring into Dean. "Your own father said that to you?" There was no verbal answer, but the look in Dean's eyes when they met Draco's was all the answer the teenager needed. "I can't believe it." The blond jumped to his feet and began pacing furiously. "Fathers aren't supposed to say things like that to their children. Especially about their other child. Aren't fathers supposed to protect their sons? They're not supposed to give them an impossible task that would change their life forever. Father's aren't supposed to order their sons to kill another person. How sick do you have to be to do that?" As he ranted, Draco didn't notice himself scratching at his left arm, nor did he feel the tears streaming from his eyes. All he knew was a searing rage and an incredible ache in his heart. Unable to stand being inside any longer, Draco rushed out of the room and out of the house, the back door slamming behind him. 

Today had become a day of silence, as it filled the room yet again following Draco's outburst. Everyone could tell there was much more behind his words than righteous indignation. The boy was angry, angry and very bitter, driven by a lot of hurt. Knowing what could possibly be the source of that outburst, Dean slowly stood to his feet and followed the distraught teen outside. 

He found Draco sitting on the edge of the porch, staring absently at the junk cars scattered about the yard and scratching once more at his arm. Dean didn't disturb the teen, just quietly sat down next to him. He would wait until Draco came to him. 

He didn't have to wait long. 

"How can you stand your dad, knowing he did that to you?" Draco asked helplessly. His fingers moved more frantically against his sleeve, leading Dean to think there was something on his arm that was at least related to the pain Draco was feeling, if not directly responsible. 

"Part of me can't," Dean admitted. "He didn't give me any reasons, no details, no explanation. Just save your brother or kill him. How could be ask that of me? Sam's my baby brother. I practically raised him since he was six months old. How could he expect me to kill someone that was just as much my son as he is my brother?" 

"So how did you get past it?" For the first time since he joined the teenager on the porch, Draco turned his head and met Dean's eyes with his own pain-filled ones. "How do you not hate him?" 

"For a long time, I did hate him. How could I not? He told me to kill my brother. But I decided I wasn't going to listen to that. Call it denial or whatever you want, but killing my brother wasn't even an option. So I ignored it. I focused only on protecting Sammy. Which was nothing new, I'd already been doing it for 23 years. Having that job to focus on helped me forget what my dad had told me to do." Dean let Draco think about his words for a moment before asking the question that had been burning in his mind since Draco's rant in the study. "What did your dad do to cause that rant back there?" 

Draco let out a bitter laugh. "What didn't he do? He only raised me to be a racist, entitled little git who only knew how to use people and put them down. Any kindness I showed anyone was rewarded with a sharp rap on the head with his wand handle. And then because of his screw ups I'm ordered to kill my own school headmaster by a madman trying to rule the entire wizarding world. I'm forced to take his mark and become one of his followers. I don't even believe in any of that rubbish he's forcing on us. I'm not a racist blood purist. Blood is blood, magic is magic. What difference does it make if you're born into an old pureblooded family or your parents are muggles? The smartest witch in school is Harry's best friend, and she was born to muggles. Harry's the bloody savior of the wizarding world, and he's a half-blood. And then there's me, born to two ancient and noble pureblood families, and I'm raised to call the smartest witch of our age a mudblood and show her nothing but hatred." The tears began again in earnest and Draco dropped his head into his hands, his fingers digging into his hair. "The only person I've ever been able to count on is Severus. He protected me in ways my father never did. I could go to him for anything, and he even took the task of killing Dumbledore so I wouldn't have to. And now he's dead. I don't have anyone anymore." 

"Yes you do." Draco looked back up at Dean, a frown tugging at his brow. "You've got Harry. He stood with you all morning at your teacher's funeral. Don't think Sam and I didn't notice that. And you've got me, and Sam and Bobby. For however long you're here, you've got us. So you're not alone here." There wasn't an answer from the teenager next to him, but this didn't surprise Dean. He just put a hand on Draco's shoulder, just like Harry had done earlier that morning, and left Draco to absorb everything they'd talked about. 

Dean really had given Draco a bit to think on. Truth be told, he'd forgotten about Harry standing at his side as they watched Snape be cremated earlier that very morning. He chalked his forgetfulness up to the emotional rollercoaster his life had been for the last... he didn't know how long. It seemed as though his whole life had been a never-ending rollercoaster ride, and this was the first time he'd been able to get off and breathe. 

But Draco really could empathize with Dean and Sam. Especially Dean. Nobody should be given that kind of burden, especially by their father. 

Now that he'd calmed down and talked out his frustration, Draco stood up and rejoined Harry and the hunters in the study. As he sat back down, Harry nudged his arm and gave him a look that clearly said are you okay? Draco answered with a small nod, and the teenagers settled back into the couch to listen to the hunters' plans. 

"So that's why the demon wanted us," Sam realized. "He wants to get to whatever's in that devil's trap, but he can't because he's a demon. So he recruited us, made us fight to the death to see who would go in for him." 

"We gotta get to Wyoming," Dean declared. He and the other hunters stood to get ready, but a thought made Ellen pause. 

"What about the boys?" she asked, indicating Draco and Harry, who were still sitting a little cluelessly on the couch. 

"What do you think, guys?" Dean addressed the teenagers. "You want to stay here or go with us?" 

"Before you decide, know that it's a really long drive to Wyoming," Sam warned. 

Harry and Draco looked at each other. "What do you think?" Draco began. 

"Personally, I want to help them out if I can," Harry admitted bluntly. "What about you?" 

"Well, I'm not staying here by myself. I may not mind muggles now, but that doesn't mean I know how to use anything here." Harry snorted at Draco's answer. Typical for the blond Slytherin. "Plus," Draco met Harry's eyes, "we can rest in the car on the way there, right?" 

A smirk turned up the corners of Harry's lips. "You know you want to help them," he chuckled. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," the other boy denied as they both rose from the couch and approached the hunters. 

"We'll go with you," Harry decided for himself and his classmate. "We want to help any way we can." 

"You sure, boys?" Ellen asked. "This isn't going to be pretty." 

"We came here from a war zone," Draco replied bluntly, throwing Ellen for a loop. "We can handle it." The dark haired boy nodded his agreement. 

"Hey," Bobby's voice cut in impatiently. "Are we going to stand here yammering or are we going?" 

"We're going," said Dean resolutely. The group followed Bobby outside and they all squeezed into the Impala. It was a tight fit, but they managed. 

Sam wasn't kidding when he said it was a long drive. It took close to ten hours to get to the middle of Wyoming. It was in the early morning hours when they arrived at an old cemetery that looked as though there hadn't been anybody there in decades. 

Walking through the graves, the troupe found a large stone structure in the middle of the cemetery, a strange pattern etched into it. 

Dean stepped up to it and ran a hand over the carving, his fingers finding a small but deep hole right in the center of the design. "I bet I know what goes in there," he murmured bitterly. 

At that moment, the group of hunters and wizards heard what sounded like twigs snapping, and they jumped immediately into battle mode, taking their chosen hiding spots so they could ambush Jake. 

Just as they suspected, Jake weaved his way between graves to the structure they'd just been inspecting. While his back was turned, the hunters and wizards silently approached Jake, guns and wands at the ready. 

"Howdy, Jake," Dean spoke first, startling the soldier. Said soldier whirled around to face the group behind him. 

When he saw the two wizards, his eyes widened. "W-what are you people?" he stammered, remembering how they'd thrown him through the air without even being near him. "There's no way you could've thrown me like that. What are you?" Now, Jake had seen and done some pretty powerful things, thanks to the demon, but it was nothing like what the teenagers had done so effortlessly. 

"They're just regular people, Jake," Sam answered, taking Jake's attention away from the boys. They still didn't want it getting out that they were magical. "They're no different from you and me." 

Jake snorted lightly, then turned his eyes to Ellen. "Hey, lady," he said casually, "put that gun to your head for me." To everyone's horror, Ellen's hands moved, the shaking pistol resting ominously against her temple. "That Ava girl was right. Once you give into it, there's so much more you can do." 

"Shoot him," Ellen commanded softly. 

"You'll be cleaning up brain matter before you can even move," Jake countered. 

Harry and Draco exchanged quick glances, both of the running through every spell they could think of that would be appropriate and helpful to the situation. 

There was a resonating click, and the teenagers looked up at the man in front of them. He had stuck something into the structure behind him, and soon the whole graveyard was in chaos. Dean was shooting at Jake, who fell to the side with blood flowing from his back. 

Dean ran to pull what appeared to be an old revolver out of the stone, but it didn't stop the whirring stone slabs from turning, their etchings coming together to form a pentagram. 

_This can't be good,_ Harry and Draco thought simultaneously mere seconds before the structure exploded, two doors bursting open and clouds of black flying through like dementors. 

"Expecto patronum!" Harry shouted instinctively. A bright light shined out of his wand, engulfing the demons and driving them back toward the devil's gate. Draco stood beside him and cast a shield charm, containing the demons as three of the hunters ran to the doors and tried to shut them. Draco cast another shield around Ellen, Bobby, and Sam as Harry cast Reducto, and the doors to the gate slammed shut. 

Hearing a scuffling behind them, the hunters and wizards turned around. They found two spirits wrestling and Dean aiming the Colt at them. One was easily identified as the Yellow Eyed Demon, but the other one had Sam, Ellen, and Bobby's jaws dropping. 

For right in front of them, holding the demon still, was none other than John Winchester. A shout from Dean caught everyone's attention, making them pause where they stood. A shot rang out, and the Yellow Eyed Demon was crackling with light before he dropped dead on the ground. 

A hush fell after that, the events of the night settling in everyone's minds and rendering them speechless. Dean and Sam couldn't take their eyes off their father. None of them spoke; they didn't need to. The pride in John's eyes said enough, and with tears in everyone's eyes, John Winchester began to glow and he disappeared, his spirit finally at peace. 

As they walked back to the Impala, the brothers reveled in their victory. The monster that had taken both Mary and Jess was dead. They had finally been avenged. 

The first to break the silence was Ellen. "What was that you boys did back there?" she asked the teens. In the heat of battle, they had all forgotten that Ellen didn't know they were magical. Well, now the cat was out of the bag. 

"We're wizards," Harry told her, holding up his wand as proof. "And no, we're not evil." He wanted to head off another interrogation like the one they'd gotten from the Winchesters and Bobby when they used their magic in Cold Oak. 

"They come by it honestly," Bobby chimed in, supporting the wizards with a bit of humor. The wizards smirked at that, then they all turned their eyes to the car, where Dean and Sam seemed to be having a rather emotional conversation. 

Bobby could feel the relief and overwhelming peace radiating from the brothers. He'd been with them almost every step of the way since John first began hunting the demon nearly 24 years ago. 

"So," the grizzled hunter broke in, interrupting the brothers. "What d'you boys plan on doing now that the demon's dead?" 

"I know the first thing I want to do is go back to your place and have a beer," was Dean's answer. "Then I want to sleep for a week." 

"I hear you, man," Sam chuckled next to him. 

"Sounds like a good plan to me, boys," Ellen agreed. "Let's go home."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, guys. Don't forget to review, and we'll meet again tomorrow for part 3.


	3. Part Three

A/N: Hello once again. I'm very glad you could join me this fine day. Prepare for part three! It's action-packed and full of adventure. Well, maybe not adventure, but definitely action-packed. Read on, friends!

Disclaimer: There's a banana by my arm. Why is there a banana by my arm?

* * *

After meeting up with Jo in Nebraska and parting ways with Ellen, the hunters and wizards continued to Bobby's, where they settled in the study with those beers they'd been promised. 

"Man, I still can't believe we got the demon," said Sam. " I mean, you shot it, Dean. You killed it." 

"Yeah, but I had some help." Dean took another swallow of his beer. Then he looked up at the teenagers. "And you guys, I can't thank you enough for what you did back there. If it weren't for you, a whole lot more demons could've gotten free." Harry and Draco shrugged sheepishly and looked away, taking a drink of their sodas. 

"No, really," Sam agreed and sat up in his chair. "We really owe you one. What can we do to thank you?" 

The wizards exchanged glances, not quite sure how to answer. Draco had never received gratitude in his life, unless you counted Moaning Myrtle being appreciative of his company. The thought made him shudder a bit. She may have been a willing and attentive listener, but her leering made him a bit uncomfortable on more than one occasion. And Harry may have been the "savior of the wizarding world" and begrudgingly used to people fawning over him, he couldn't recall a time anyone had actually thanked him for anything he'd done. Neither of them knew how to respond. 

Harry brought a hand to his forehead, absently running his fingers over his scar. "I really don't know," he said honestly. "I guess you could just call it even since you brought us with you when you could've easily just left us to fend for ourselves." 

"And you helped us give Severus a funeral," added Draco. Harry nodded, his fingers still tracing his scar. 

"But still, we want to do something to thank you," Bobby insisted. 

"Yeah," added Sam. "You helped us kill the monster that killed our mom and my girlfriend. Our family has been hunting it since I was six months old. It's a huge deal for us." The teenagers exchanged glances again, Draco looking a bit clueless, and Harry with his eyebrows furrowed. 

Harry closed his eyes in thought. He really didn't know how the Winchesters could repay him and Draco for their help. Mainly because they didn't feel the need to be repaid. They were helping people in need. That was its own reward in Harry's book. And Draco seemed to be somewhat of the same opinion. At least he didn't know how to answer the brothers. 

"Wait a minute," Dean spoke as a thought occurred to him. "You said before we left that you came here from a war zone." 

"That's right." 

"What exactly did you mean by that?" The teenagers closed their eyes at Bobby's question, more like demand. Harry rubbed at his scar more and Draco began fidgeting with his left sleeve. "If you tell us, we might can help you figure it out and get you back home." 

"I supposed it won't hurt to tell you about it," Harry mumbled, "seeing as you've already seen us using magic and know about the magical world." 

"I think the statute of secrecy was broken long before we got here," Draco muttered bitterly. "There's no way a full scale war didn't go unnoticed by anyone at all." 

"What war are you guys talking about?" asked Sam. "We've never heard anything about a magical war." 

"That's because it's been kept a secret from the world," Harry answered. "No one is supposed to know about the magical world, unless they're part of the magical world. But a very dark wizard has been trying to take over the entire wizarding community, and he and his followers had launched an attack on our school not long before we came here." 

"We were actually right in the middle of the fighting when Severus brought us here." 

"How did he bring you here?" asked Bobby. "When we found you, you said you'd just appeared there." 

"And that was the truth. Snape had just been attacked by Nagini, and I went to him after the snake was gone and he gave me his tears, which I need to look at somehow." 

"I ran in seconds later and found Harry and Severus on the floor. Severus took us both by the hand and began muttering a spell. There was a bright flash of light, and we were on that road where you found us." 

"Moments later, he died," Harry concluded sadly, forehead scrunched. 

"Do you know what spell your teacher used?" asked Bobby. Harry shook his head. 

"I know what he said," Draco answered, "but I've never heard of the spell before." 

"What was the spell?" Dean asked him. 

"Familia salus mea. He kept repeating it over and over again. The louder he spoke, the brighter the light around us got, and we were on that road." 

"Familia salus mea roughly translates to save my family," Bobby translated. "Are the three of you related?" 

The boys shook their heads. "Severus told me just before he died that he always thought of me as a son, and he was always like a second father to me. Certainly a better one than my own father." 

"So that's how the spell worked for you," Sam joined the conversation. "But what about Harry? How would it have worked for him?" 

"You said you have Severus's memories," Draco recalled, addressing Harry. "Maybe they can tell us something." 

Harry was just about to respond when a stabbing pain shot through his scar. A scream left his lips as his hands went up to his forehead, as if trying to keep his head from falling apart. 

"Harry!" Draco shouted with a start. 

"What's wrong with him?" asked Dean. He and Sam jumped to their feet in alarm. 

"I'm not entirely sure," Draco confessed, "but I think it has to do with his scar." 

"What does the scar have to do with anything?" 

"He got it when he was a baby," Draco answered Sam's question. "That dark wizard we mentioned earlier tried to kill him but he survived the curse, and that scar was left as a result. He's the only one that's ever survived the killing curse." 

"He's at Hogwarts," Harry gasped in pain. 

"We already know this, Harry. We both saw him there." 

"No, he's at the Forbidden Forest. He wants me to come to him. Said he'll leave everyone alone if I meet him at the forest." 

"There's no way we can do that. We're nowhere near Scotland, too far even to apparate there." 

"I know this, Draco!" Harry winced and groaned at the pain still stabbing in his head. After several minutes, the pain finally subsided and Harry was left gasping for breath. 

"What exactly was that?" Sam asked slowly. 

"I have a connection to Voldemort," Harry explained softly, exhausted. "I can sometimes see into his mind." Next to him, Draco's eyes widened in shock. "I saw him just now. He's told everyone at Hogwarts that if I come to meet him in the Forbidden Forest, then he won't attack the school. He's giving them until midnight to take care of the injured and dead." 

"There's got to be something we can do about it," said Draco. "Even from here, I'm sure there's something we can do." 

Harry's hand moved to the pocket of his jeans and drew out the vial of Snape's memories. "Snape gave me his memories just before you found us. I want to watch them but we don't have a pensieve." 

A thought occurred to Draco. He turned to the brothers. "Can you bring me a pan of water? I know a spell that can turn a pan of water into a sort-of pensieve." 

Sam nodded and ran to the kitchen, bringing a large, shallow pot of water with him. "Okay, now what?" 

Draco raised his wand and pointed it at the water. "Memoriae revelio." The surface of the water began to shimmer with a soft glow. "Okay, put the memories in." 

Standing slowly, Harry uncorked the vial and dropped the tears into the make-shift pensieve, watching them swirl around in the water. His bright green eyes flicked between the memories and Draco hesitantly. "W-will you watch them with me?" he whispered. 

Blond eyebrows shot up. "You really want me to go with you to watch Severus's memories?" Harry nodded. "Why would you want me to go with you?" 

"Because Snape was important to you too. And... I kind of don't want to go alone." 

Draco nodded, humbled by Harry's request and offer. "Okay, I'll go with you." Taking deep breaths, both teens dunked their heads into the pensieve and disappeared, leaving three very stunned hunters behind. 

"Well, that was unexpected," Dean deadpanned. 

"Yeah, just a little bit," agreed Sam. 

"I'm gonna go call my contact in England," Bobby said slowly once he'd gotten over the shock of seeing the boys vanish. "See if he knows anything about this wizard war." 

As he was ending the call, two thuds sounded through the room and Draco and Harry appeared on the floor. Draco stood first and dragged Harry to the couch, where he sat with his head in his hands. 

"Hey, what happened?" Dean asked the boys. "What'd you see?" 

"We figured out how the spell worked for Harry," Draco told them softly, sitting in concern next to his friend. Because that's who Harry was now. After the last two days, how could they not be friends? 

"How?" 

"Snape and my mother were childhood friends," Harry's low voice answered. "She was the love of his life." 

"And you never knew this?" Sam asked gently. 

Harry shook his head. "I only knew he hated my father. Can't really blame him for that, though. He bullied Snape just because he was a Slytherin and a loner. But I never knew he was close to my mum." 

"That love for her made him see you as a son," Sam concluded. 

"His family," added Dean. 

"But Severus also said we're family," Draco reminded Harry. All eyes turned to him. "Just before he died, he begged us to take care of each other because we're family." 

"Maybe because he thought of us both as sons?" Harry guessed. 

"No, with that spell, there's got to be more to it than that," Bobby disagreed. "What about your family histories? Could you have a common relative?" 

"Not that we know of. I don't know much about my own family history, but Sirius showed me the Black family tree, and I don't think there was anybody that I would be related to." 

"Sirius Black?" asked Draco. "How do you know him?" 

"He was my godfather. I stayed with him over the Christmas break in fifth year. He told me about his family. I saw your mum and Bellatrix on the family tree. How could I have forgotten that?" 

"That must be how the spell worked for the two of you," was Bobby's conclusion. "Draco's cousin was your godfather." 

"What would that make us?" Draco deadpanned. "God-cousins?" 

Despite the dreary situation, the group couldn't help but smile a little at the quip. "How about... godbrothers?" offered Harry. 

Draco gave a slow nod, sincere thanks in his eyes. "That works for me." 

"As touching as all this is," Bobby's low drawl caught their attention, "we've still got a situation over in England to figure out. I talked to my contact. He confirmed everything you've said, though he didn't have a whole lot of detail. He's not too immersed in the wizarding community, just knows a fair bit about it." 

"Was there anything else you saw in your teacher's memories?" Dean asked the boys. "Anything that could help us here?" 

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "I've been hunting for things this past year. I spent the whole year with my best friends Ron and Hermione looking for dark artifacts called horcruxes." A sharp inhale next to him made Harry pause and look over at Draco. "You know what a horcrux is?" 

"Yeah. I used to hear my father talking about them with my aunt Bella. I think they both had one, though I don't know what happened to them." 

"We destroyed them." Draco's eyes widened but Harry ignored him. 

"Could someone explain these horcruxes to those of us that don't know?" Dean asked sarcastically. 

"A horcrux is a dark object a person can make by splitting their soul into pieces and storing it in an object," explained Draco. "It grants the person immortality. To make one, you have to commit a murder, which breaks off a piece of your soul, and then cast the spell to transfer it to the object." 

"What kind of object?" 

"Anything," Harry answered Bobby's question. "A cup, a book, a chair, even an animal. Voldemort made six horcruxes. I destroyed Tom Riddle's diary in second year in the Chamber of Secrets, Ron destroyed Slytherin's locket a few months ago, he and Hermione destroyed Hufflepuff's cup in the Chamber during the battle, and you were there when we destroyed Ravenclaw's diadem at the Room of Requirement. And Dumbledore destroyed the Gaunt ring just before sixth year." 

"Is that why his hand was blackened and so dead-looking?" 

"Yep. And," Harry paused here. He wasn't sure if Draco knew what Snape had done for Dumbledore when he killed him, and if he didn't know, Harry wasn't sure if he should. But he felt Draco deserved to know what a hero his favorite teacher and mentor was. "And that's why Snape killed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower." 

From the look on Draco's face, Harry knew this was news to the other boy. "He told me he took an unbreakable vow to fulfill my task if I couldn't do it." Draco couldn't help but feel a little betrayed. He'd thought his mentor had taken on his task for his sake. But was it really just a ploy to kill Dumbledore himself? 

Harry saw all this on his friend's face and began speaking quickly. "He did," he assured Draco. "Snape took the unbreakable vow before he and Dumbledore made plans for Snape to kill him." Draco didn't say anything, but Harry could tell he was listening. "Snape had told Dumbledore about your task and the vow he'd made to protect you, and that's when they made their own plans." There were tears in Draco's eyes, but he also looked a bit hopeful. "Snape did do it for you." 

"Thank you," Draco choked out gratefully. Harry clapped a hand on Draco's shoulder, much like he had done at Snape's funeral. 

"Not to interrupt," Sam cut in a moment later, "but we should probably get back to discussing the horcruxes." 

"You're right," the boys cleared their throats and agreed, Draco surreptitiously drying his eyes with the back of his hand as they gave their attention back to the hunters. 

"So, you said you and your friends destroyed four of those horcruxes and your, I'm guessing, teacher?" Dean asked, receiving confirming nods in answer, "destroyed a fifth one. So that just leaves one more horcrux, right?" 

"Not exactly." Harry winced at the memory he'd seen. 

"How?" Dean asked gruffly. 

"That night when he tried to kill me, something happened. When Voldemort killed my parents, their murders fractured his soul. When he cast the killing curse at me, my mother's sacrifice cast a shield around me, and Voldemort's curse rebounded and hit him instead, sending that piece of his soul into the nearest living thing." 

"You," Sam gasped. Dean and Bobby stared wide-eyed at the black-haired boy. 

"Me." Harry gingerly touched his forehead. "It's why my scar hasn't completely healed, even after all these years. It's how we can see into each other's minds. I'm the seventh horcrux, the one he didn't mean to make." 

The room became silent, the hunters processing the information Harry and Draco had just given them. 

"So," Sam began haltingly, still a bit speechless. "What are you supposed to do about the horcrux in your scar? I highly doubt any of your other methods will work in this case." 

"No," Harry scoffed. "I'm not taking a sword, a basilisk fang, or bloody fiendfyre to my head, thank you very much." 

"I still can't believe that idiot Crabbe cast fiendfyre in the Room of Requirement of all places. He didn't even know how to use it." Draco rolled his eyes in disgust. "Fool nearly killed all of us." 

"Hold up," Dean spoke up. "I just had a thought. You said a horcrux is a broken, twisted piece of a soul, right?" The teens nodded. "What does that sound like to you, Sam?" 

"Sounds like a demon to me," Sam answered, picking up his brother's train of thought. "Bobby, could we exorcise the horcrux out of Harry?" 

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try," the older hunter mused. "Exorcisms don't have any effect on people, so if it doesn't work on the horcrux, it shouldn't affect Harry in any way." 

"I'm willing to try it if you are. I just want it out of me." 

"Why don't Bobby and I look for all the exorcisms we can find? Hopefully one of them will work. Dean, you can do a holy water test to see if the horcrux is similar to a demon like we think it is." The hunters jumped up without a word to do their assigned tasks, leaving the teenagers sitting in slightly stunned silence. 

"Okay," Dean said when he came back to the study, flask in hand. "This is holy water. It won't hurt you or me." He demonstrated by splashing a bit on his own hand, and then the boys' hands. "But if our theory is correct, then a drop of this should have your scar steaming. I don't know if you'll feel any of it or not though," he warned Harry. "We've never don't anything like this before." 

"Can't be any worse than anything else I've been through," Harry snarked bitterly. "Go ahead and try it." Harry tilted his head back and allowed Dean to pour a small amount of holy water directly onto his scar. The second the water touched his skin, it started steaming and smoking, and Harry let out a pained yell. 

"Sam, Bobby, it worked!" Dean reported. He set the flask down and knelt next to Harry. "How you doing, Harry?" 

"Worse than the basilisk fang that stabbed my arm in second year but not as bad as when my aunt hit me with a hot frying pan," Harry sighed tiredly once the pain in his scar had subsided. 

"Your aunt did what?" Dean demanded in horror. Draco had a similar expression on his own face. 

"Aright, we found a few," Sam came back in before Harry could say more. "I found the one we used on the demon plane and the one we used on Meg. Bobby also found a few more from other cultures, but we're not sure how those will work." 

"Let's get him under the devil's trap," Bobby suggested. "Better to be safe than sorry." Dean and Draco helped Harry stand and led him to the chair Sam had set in the middle of the room. 

"Okay, I'll read the exorcisms and we'll see if any of them work," Sam explained to Harry, who nodded. 

"And I'm not going to use anymore holy water on you," Dean assured him. "Normally we would to keep the demons in their place while we exorcise them, but since you can feel the horcrux's pain, we won't do that to you. Plus, it's only a little piece of soul, not an actual demonic possession." 

"I appreciate that," Harry said wearily. "Let's get on with it, then." 

With a nod, Sam began the first exorcism. It was the one they'd used on the phantom traveler that possessed the airplane. So far, nothing was happening. "I don't think it's working." 

"Try the next one," Dean suggested. 

Next, Sam opened up the exorcism they'd used the year before on Meg. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas." 

A few words into the chant, Harry began to twitch. His head rolled from side to side and his eyebrows scrunched in a wince. The further Sam went, the more Harry began to move, until he was squirming in his seat. 

Noticing this, Draco raised his wand. "Incarcerous," he cast. Thin ropes appeared and wrapped themselves around Harry's moving form, securing him to the chair. He caught Bobby eyeing him and shrugged his shoulders. "Just in case." The older man gave a head tilt of acceptance and turned his eyes back to the other boys. 

Pained screams erupted from Harry, and Sam stopped the incantation, looking worriedly at the teenager. "Keep going," Harry growled hoarsely. "It's working." 

"But I don't want to hurt you," Sam protested. 

"Just do it," Harry insisted. "Get it over with. I can handle it." 

Though he was hesitant, Sam looked back down to the book in his hands. "Ergo draco malidicte, ut ecclesiam tuam secura." Harry began screaming again, this time thrashing in his seat. Sam had to speak louder to be heard over the noise until finally he got to the end. "Te rogamus, audi nos!" 

A blood curdling scream filled the room as a dark cloud flew out of Harry's scar. The cloud roiled about in the air, screaming and shrieking louder than anything the hunters had ever heard. 

Draco knew what needed to be done to finally destroy the horcrux. "Avada kedavra!" A flash of green light shot out of his wand and hit the horcrux, and everyone could see faces in the smoke, trying to escape the killing curse before it was overtaken by the green of the curse. Flashes of green light engulfed the smoke-like entity before it burst into a softer puff of green smoke, disappearing as it fell. 

Harry slumped down in his chair, feeling more relieved than he'd ever felt in his life. A hand clapped him on the shoulder, and he looked up to see Draco standing over him, a worried look on his face. 

"How you doing, Harry?" he asked. He could feel the other teen shaking under his hand. 

"I've been better," Harry gasped. "But I'm glad it's gone." 

"Here, let's get you to the couch." Dean stepped forward and Draco dropped the ropes as he and the hunter dragged Harry back over to the couch, laying him down. 

"Here, drink a swallow of this." Bobby handed over a flask. "It'll help you settle down." Dean took the proffered flask and held it to Harry's lips, his other arm supporting the boy's neck. The whiskey burned like fire as it went down, causing Harry to cough. But it had the desired effect, and pretty soon, Harry was lying comfortably relaxed on the couch. 

"What was that you cast at the horcrux?" Sam asked Draco as they all settled back in their seats. They were all running on adrenaline during the exorcism and now they were coming down from it. 

"The killing curse." 

"The same one Harry survived when he was a baby?" asked Dean. Draco nodded silently. 

"I'm gonna go get a drink," Bobby announced as he stood from the desk chair. "You boys want anything?" 

"A beer wouldn't hurt," Dean requested. 

"I second that," added Sam. 

"You want anything, Draco?" 

"Have you got any coffee?" the teen asked. 

"Sure do. Be right back." Bobby disappeared into the kitchen and the guys heard the sounds of coffee being made and bottles being gathered before the older man reappeared. "Coffee'll be done in a few minutes." 

"Thanks." Draco turned his eyes to his resting friend. "Now there's just one horcrux left." 

"Any idea what it could be?" asked Dean. 

"Nagini," a muffled voice answered from the couch. "It's Nagini." 

"The snake?" Draco spat in disgust. "He made that bloody snake into a horcrux?" 

"Why do you think he's always kept it so close to him?" was Harry's retort. "Aside from that time it attacked Hermione and me at Godric's Hollow, that is." 

"When did that happen?" 

"Christmas Eve." Harry slowly sat up and leaned heavily against the back of the couch. "We were at the cemetery where we saw Bathilda Bagshot walking through town. We followed her to her home to talk to her, but Hermione found her dead body in another part of the house. The Bathilda I was talking to turned out to be Nagini. She attacked us, and my wand was broken in the process." 

"So that's why you took mine." 

"Partly. I was also just trying to disarm you. And it's actually a good thing I did." 

Confusion made itself known on Draco's face. "Why's that?" 

"The night you disarmed Dumbledore on the Astronomy Tower, his wand shifted its allegiance to you. It became your wand. Then when I disarmed you at Malfoy Manor, your wand became mine." 

Realization dawned on Draco then. "So that's why Voldemort was saying the wand wasn't working properly for him. Because it was never his wand." 

"Nope. It was yours, and then it became mine. But he didn't know how the wand worked." 

"What do you mean?" 

"He thought the wand belonged to Snape because Snape was the one to kill Dumbledore, but Dumbledore's death was completely irrelevant." 

"So he killed Severus for no reason," Draco growled. "Just one more reason to want him dead." 

"We're almost there," Harry assured Draco. "All that's left is to kill the snake, and then anybody can take out Voldemort. We just need a way to get the message to Hermione." 

"I know one thing I could do, but it's really difficult, and it'll be even more difficult from such a distance." 

"I could also try sending a patronus, but like you said, I don't know if it would work over this distance. What were you thinking of?" 

"Something similar to the way Voldemort speaks to a large crowd. The way he projects his voice into people's minds. It's a type of legilimency. Severus taught it to me in case we needed to speak to one another right away." 

"Alright, how about we do this? I'll send Hermione a patronus telling her that we're safe and that you have a way to talk to her directly. I'll ask her to send a patronus back letting us know she got our message." 

"Works for me, though are you strong enough to send a patronus?" 

Harry shrugged. "I'll just have to be." He stood slowly to his feet and raised his wand. "Expecto Patronum!" 

Before everyone's stunned eyes, a glowing stag appeared and stood regally in the middle of the room. Its head was turned to Harry as if awaiting instruction. "Hermione, I'm safe and Draco Malfoy is with me. We've destroyed the horcrux in my scar, leaving Nagini the only one left. Draco knows a faster way to speak to you directly. Send us a patronus back letting us know you got this one." 

As if knowing Harry was finished, the stag took a stately step forward before bounding toward the window, disappearing through the glass. "What do we do now?" Dean asked once the patronus was gone. 

"Now we wait," Harry answered as he sat tiredly back onto the couch. "I don't know how long it'll take for Prongs to get to Scotland and for Hermione's otter to come here, but hopefully it'll be quick." 

"In the meantime," Bobby said as he stood up, "how 'bout we get some food in us?" 

"Yes, please," Dean agreed readily. 

"Then you can help me in the kitchen." Dean grumbled a bit as he stood to follow Bobby, amused chuckles echoing behind him. 

"Don't worry," Sam said. "All they have to do is heat up Bobby's chili. Dean won't actually be cooking anything." 

"I heard that!" Dean's voice protested, punctuated by a wooden spoon flying toward Sam's head. The younger brother easily caught the spoon before it hit him, and he threw it back with a hearty laugh. 

A short time later, the two hunters returned to the study with bowls of chili in hand and began passing them out to the younger men. Bobby went back to the kitchen, then reappeared seconds later with his own bowl, a few sleeves of saltines, and Draco's coffee. 

The hunters and Harry dug in hungrily, but Draco didn't. He sat there and studied the soup in his hands, stirring it slowly with his spoon. 

"Something wrong with your chili?" Sam asked curiously. He'd noticed Draco's hesitance to eat it and wondered about it. 

"No," Draco answered honestly. "Just... I've never had anything like this before." 

The hunters were a bit dumbstruck, but realization dawned on Harry. "You don't have chili in the wizarding word?" he asked. Draco just shook his head mutely. "It's a stew made of tomatoes, beans, and beef," Harry summarized. "Usually it's a little spicy." He handed a few crackers to his friend. "And it's really good with these crushed in it." 

Deciding to trust his new friend, Draco crumbled the saltines into his bowl, stirred it around a little, and took a small bite. His eyes widened at the hearty, spicy taste of the soup and quickly ate another spoonful. "This is really good," he said enthusiastically between bites. 

"Bobby makes the best chili," Dean praised as he enjoyed his own soup. 

"Shut up, idjit." Lunch passed pleasantly, but it was interrupted by a glowing light coming through the window. 

"That must be Hermione's patronus." Harry recognized the blue glow just before a small otter danced through the room and spoke in Hermione's voice. 

"Harry! I'm so glad you're okay. Ron says he's going to kill you for disappearing like that. Tell Malfoy to do whatever he has to do. We don't have a lot of time." 

Harry met Draco's eyes and gave him a nod. "Do it." 

Draco closed his eyes and muttered a spell under his breath. He felt a rush in his mind, as if he was moving at a rapid speed, until he felt another presence. 

_Granger?_ Draco thought. He vaguely felt Hermione jump through their connection. 

_M-malfoy?_ she asked hesitantly. 

_Oh, good, it worked. What's going on over there?_

 _First, how do I know you're with Harry and not trying to trick me? Tell me something only Harry and I would know._

 _Ugh, we don't have time for this, Granger!_

 _Then hurry up and give me an answer!_

 _Fine,_ Draco growled before turning to Harry. "She wants me to tell her something only the two of you would know." 

"Okay, um," Harry thought for a second. "We snuck a baby dragon out of the school in first year and gave it to Charlie Weasley." 

_You and Harry snuck a drag- Wait, so I did see a dragon that night?_

 _Good enough,_ Hermione replied. He had all the important details right. _Okay, right now we're basically just trying to hold off the Death Eaters. Ron and I are barricaded in Dumbledore's office so we can talk._

 _Okay, someone needs to kill Nagini. That's the last horcrux. Once that one's gone, Voldemort will be vulnerable to just about any attack._

 _How did you destroy the horcrux in Harry?_

 _Exorcism. But I don't care what you do to the snake. Just kill it and end this war._

 _Got it. Thank you... Draco._

Both knew Draco didn't need to respond, so he broke the connection and rejoined the group in the study. "I told her," he reported as he dropped wearily onto the couch. "Now it's up to them." 

"Why don't you boys go upstairs and get some rest?" Bobby offered. "You've both been running on fumes for days. Go get some shut eye." 

"Some what?" Draco questioned. 

"He means sleep," Sam translated. "And he's right. After everything you've told us and what's happened since you got here, you both have got to be drained." 

"Come on," Dean commanded as he stood up. I"ll show you where you can get some sleep." The teenagers both stood slowly and wordlessly followed the hunter upstairs. "There's the bathroom," Dean pointed to the door on their right. "If you want, you can get a shower or whatever. And here," he opened a door on the left, "is where you'll sleep. Get some rest guys. Holler if you need anything." 

With that, Dean left the boys to their own devices. "You want to get a shower?" Draco asked. 

"Nah, I'm too tired." Harry shook his head. "I'll just do a quick scourgify on myself and go to sleep." 

"I'm going to shower. I feel disgusting." 

"Which bed do you want?" Harry asked as Draco left the room. 

"Don't care," he called from the hallway. Deciding to take the bed by the window, Harry pointed his wand at himself, cast a simple cleaning charm, and dropped face first on the bed. He was out before his head hit the pillow. 

After a blissfully hot shower and scourgifying his clothes, Draco went back to the room he now shared with Harry. Seeing the other boy passed out on his stomach, Draco approached the remaining bed and did the same thing. Though the blankets and pillows weren't nearly as luxurious as what he had at Malfoy Manor, Draco had never been more comfortable in his life, and he was asleep within seconds.

* * *

A/N: I told y'all it was action packed. What do you think about it? Let me know in a review please. Now excuse me while I get this banana out of my presence. Thanks for reading!


	4. Part Four

A/N: Hey, peeps. Welcome to part four. I'm very sad to say that this is the finale to the story. Yes, I was sad that it's so short, too, but it wouldn't have turned out well if I'd kept it going. I'm very happy with the way it ended, and I hope y'all will be too.

Disclaimer: I gets grilled cheese for lunch!

* * *

It was well into the morning when Bobby heard Dean and Sam stirring. Unsurprising, really; those boys had been going nonstop for as long as the teenagers upstairs had been, if not longer. 

The first one to make an appearance was Sam. He came wandering into the kitchen at half past eleven searching for coffee. 

"'Bout time one of you idjits got up," Bobby spat lightly. 

"Good morning to you too, Bobby," Sam joked right back. He approached the counter and poured a cup of coffee. "I take it nobody else is up yet." 

"Not that I've noticed. But considering everything that's been happening the last few days, I'd say you're all entitled to it." 

"Especially Draco and Harry. Those poor kids have taken a lot of crap, and just about all at once." 

"Yep, they could do with a break." 

Outside, there was a loud crash, and the wards Bobby had placed around his house started blaring. 

"What the?" Bobby exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. He ran to the door as Sam took a knife to one of the many symbols Bobby had etched into one of the door posts, making the racket stop. 

Bobby stepped out onto the porch, shotgun in hand, to find a pair of teenagers. "Who are you, and how'd you get on my property?" he demanded. The girl raised her hands in the air non threateningly, and the boy behind her did the same. Seeing the wooden sticks they each held in their hands, Bobby paused to look them over. 

Both looked like they'd been through the wringer, if their torn, dirty clothes and wildly messy hair were anything to go by. So Bobby decided to cut them a break and ask questions before he started shooting. 

"We're just looking for our friend," the girl answered. Bobby took a step back and lowered the gun just a hair when he heard her accent. 

"'Bout six feet, messy black hair, green eyes?" he asked warily. The kids seemed to almost melt with relief. 

"You know Harry?" the boy asked this time. His eyes lit up and a smile appeared on his freckled face. 

This made Bobby comfortable enough to lower the shotgun and step back toward the door. "He's here, him and another friend of yours." 

The boy turned a confused face to his friend. "Since when is Harry friends with Malfoy?" 

That was how Bobby knew he could trust these kids. They gave him information about themselves and the boys without him even having to ask for it. 

"Why don't you both come on in? There's no use in standing out here with your hands in the air." Both teens dropped their hands and gratefully ran for the porch steps. 

"Thank you so much," the girl said as Bobby led them to the kitchen. "Sorry to drop in so unexpectedly like that. We were just trying to find Harry and didn't really have much of an idea where we would be going." 

"'s alright. The boys are still asleep as far as I can tell. Haven't heard a thing from them since yesterday afternoon. By the way, I'm Bobby. This here's Sam." He indicated the young man sitting at the table with them. 

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione introduced herself, "and this is Ron Weasley." 

"You were the one Draco was talking to last night, right?" asked Sam. 

"Yes, that's right." Hermione nodded, looking a bit nervous. 

"Don't worry, we know about magic," Sam assured her, having seen the look on her face and correctly interpreting it. 

"We know a lot about a lot of things," Dean added as he entered the room. "You friends of Harry's and Draco's?" 

"Well, we're friends of Harry's," Hermione answered, cutting off Ron before he could say anything. "More like acquaintances of Draco's." 

"That's putting it mildly," Ron did mutter under his breath, earning a light smack on the ear from Hermione. 

"The information he gave us won us the battle," she reminded him. "We will be nice and give him a chance." 

Bobby had to stifle a snigger. These two reminded him of a certain pair of brothers. He snuck a glance at said brothers, taking in their amusement at the teems. 

"Did you really have to hit me on the ear?" Ron whined, bringing a hand up to the abused body part. 

Rolling her eyes, Hermione stroked his hair, placating him. "You'll live, you baby." Ron smirked as he lifted his own hand to take Hermione's, lacing their fingers before dropping their joined hands on the table. 

_Well, maybe not quite like those idjits,_ Bobby amended his thought. 

"Where are Harry and Malfoy?" Ron asked curiously. 

"Far as we know, they're still sleeping." Bobby turned to the brothers. "You boys heard anything from the other two upstairs?" 

"Nope," Dean shook his head. "Though your guess is probably right." 

"I'm not surprised. Goodness knows they could use it." Bobby stood up from the counter he was leaning on and went to the refrigerator. "Late as it is, I figure it's about time for lunch. You kids are welcome to join us." 

"Thank you," Hermione accepted graciously. "It's been a little while since we've had a good meal." 

"So we've heard. Sam, Dean, pull your weight around here and give me a hand." 

"I did that yesterday," was Dean's sassy remark. 

"And you can do it again, idjit." The teenagers were a little taken aback by Bobby's gruff words and tone, but figured it was nothing unusual by the fond look on the younger men's faces. 

"Come on, Dean. The sooner we get up, the sooner Bobby stops bugging us," Sam teased with a grin. 

"Who asked you? Eat dirt and die," and pleasant laughter filled the kitchen.

* * *

When Draco woke up, he didn't know what time it was. The blackout curtain hanging over the window didn't allow nearly enough light to give him an idea of the time. 

A glance beneath the window showed the blond that his darker-haired companion was still asleep, sprawled lazily over the entire width of the bed. It was an amusing sight, he admitted begrudgingly. Draco wondered what might have woken him, as he was sleeping deeply, when he heard laughing downstairs. 

As Draco was debating whether to go investigate the merriment or get a few more hours of sleep, Harry woke up as well. Looking around blearily, the younger wizard rubbed his eyes and sat up. 

"'s going on?" he slurred almost inaudibly. 

"Everyone's up downstairs," Draco reported tiredly. 

"Can't decide if I want to join them or pass out again." 

Draco snorted his agreement, running a hand through his sleep-mussed blond locks. He was about to suggest they just go back to sleep when a different laugh drifted up to them. It was light and feminine, and to Harry, familiar. 

"No way," he gasped as both boys jumped out of their beds and ran down the stairs, stopping short when they saw who was in the kitchen. 

At the table, talking and laughing with the Winchesters and Bobby, were none other than Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. The boys stood in the doorway staring in stunned silence until they were noticed. 

"Harry!" Hermione cried when she saw her friend. She and Ron shot to their feet to get to Harry. Both threw their arms around him in a massive hug the second they were within arm's reach of him. 

Draco watched the joyful reunion with a slight pang of jealousy. He wasn't jealous of Harry in particular, but it would've been nice to have someone to welcome him with open arms the way Weasley and Granger were doing for Harry. 

A hand appeared on his shoulder, and the teenager followed the length of the arm to find Dean standing next to him. Draco felt his left arm tingling and remembered the conversation he'd had with Dean a couple days ago, right before they'd left for Wyoming. 

He wouldn't confess it out loud, but that talk with Dean was the most assurance he'd gotten from an adult in years, aside from Severus. That thought both saddened and comforted him. It was pretty obvious why it made him feel sad; that was self-explanatory. But it comforted Draco that there was still someone out there that cared about him now that Severus was gone. Even if it was only temporary. 

To Draco's surprise, Granger let go of Harry and approached him, a hand extended. "Thank you, Draco," she said softly but sincerely. Draco graciously took her hand in his own and accepted the olive branch she'd offered. 

"You're welcome... Hermione." He decided if she could put their past behind her, then he could do the same. He was rewarded with a blinding smile, which made him feel a little awkward. 

An even bigger surprise was Weasley doing the same. He offered a hand and Draco accepted it. No words were spoken between the boys, but no words were needed. Hermione had already voiced what needed to be said, and anything else, their eyes said it for them. 

"You boys came down just in time to eat," Bobby announced, breaking the solemn tension in the room and bringing everything back to normal. 

"Good, because I'm starving," Harry said as they all gathered at the table, where the hunters had laid out fixings for sandwiches. 

Once everyone had a sandwich or two, or three in Harry and Dean's cases, they all carried their plates to the living room. Dean and Sam dragged chairs in from the kitchen so there were enough seats for everybody. 

Lunch was filled with pleasant conversation. The teenagers filled each other in on what had happened after Snape disappeared with Harry and Draco. There were two, though, that weren't participating as enthusiastically as the rest. 

Harry and Draco were both feeling a bit lost. On one hand, England was their home. It was where they'd grown up, spent most of their lives. It's where their families were. 

On the other hand, wizarding Britain was war-torn, weakened, and wounded. Voldemort and his Death Eaters had ravaged the wizarding world in more ways than one. Though they didn't show it, Draco and Harry were terrified of going back to England. 

Harry didn't want to face the public after everything that had happened. One faction would praise him as the savior of the wizarding world, while another faction would slander him severely for vanishing in the middle of the battle. He was pretty sure which faction would get more press, and he really wanted to avoid the headache if he could help it. 

Draco knew exactly what would happen to him if he returned to England. The masses would hear Malfoy and see the Dark Mark on his forearm and send a lynch mob after him with no hesitation. Never mind that he'd had no choice, that he was forced to take the Mark and take on the Dark Lord's orders for his family's survival. Because his father wasn't "competent" enough to follow orders. His family may be in England, but Draco couldn't bring himself to care. They'd let him down enough, and he was done. 

But how do you tell a group of people, strangers that you'd barely known for three days that you would rather stay with them? That you'd feel safer in this unfamiliar world where you don't know anyone than the very country you were born and where you were raised. Both teens knew they would have to discuss this with the Winchesters and Bobby. Even if they weren't okay with taking Harry and Draco in, they could at least help them decide what to do. 

Because Scotland was such a long way from Sioux Falls, Bobby agreed to let Ron and Hermione stay at the house with the rest of them. Draco and Harry gave their beds to the newcomers. Ron and Hermione weren't used to the time difference between England and South Dakota, so they tired pretty quickly. After Harry led his friends to their room, he came back downstairs to find Sam sitting in the living room by himself. 

"Hey, your friends get settled in okay?" he asked when he noticed the teenager. 

"Yeah, they're out." Sam nodded and went back to his reading. "Where's everybody else?" 

"Bobby's in the garage working on a car, and I think Dean and Draco went outside." 

"That's really surprised me. I never would've thought Draco Malfoy of all people would confide in a muggle." 

"I take it Draco isn't accustomed to spending time with nonmagicals." 

"He was raised to hate them, actually. But I'm glad he's trusting Dean. I think it's doing him good." 

"How about you, Harry?" Sam asked, concerned. "How are you doing with everything now that it's over?" 

"I'm still just trying to process it all. This has been my life since I was eleven years old. I don't even know what to do with my life now." 

"What do you mean?" 

Harry sat in contemplative silence for a bit, a pensive look on his face as he gathered his thoughts. "I never thought I would actually live to be seventeen," he began slowly. "Every year I was at school, something happened that only I could fix, and it nearly got me killed every single time. And to make things worse, I see in my dead teacher's memories that I have a bloody horcrux in my head and the only way to get rid of it is to die. Now, Voldemort's gone for good and I'm not dead. And I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with my life." A thought occurred to the teenager and he met the older man's eyes. "What did you think about doing after we killed the demon that killed your mum and girlfriend?" 

Sam breathed a deep, thoughtful sigh. "Actually, I haven't given it a whole lot of thought, to be honest. As soon as we got back from Wyoming we immediately jumped into helping you and Draco." 

Harry winced sheepishly. "Sorry about that." 

"No, you don't have anything to be sorry for," Sam assured the teen. "Dean and I are plenty used to that. It's been our life since I was six months old. Don't worry about that. But to answer your question, I don't know. When Dean asked me that a year ago my answer was go back to school, finish my law degree. But now, after everything that's happened, I don't know. I'll have to talk it over with Dean, see what we want to do from here. What do you think you might want to do now that your fight is over?" 

"I have no idea," Harry answered truthfully. "If you'd asked me a year and a half ago, I'd have said I want to be an auror, maybe marry Ginny, who was my sort-of girlfriend at the time. But now, after everything, especially what I learned from Snape's memories and coming here, I don't have a clue what to do now." 

"Maybe you'll figure it out after you go back home. And I'm sure talking to Hermione and Ron will help you decide what you want to do, even if it's just taking some time off before getting back to the real world." When he didn't get an answer, Sam noticed Harry wouldn't meet his eyes. "What is it?" 

"I'm... not sure if I want to go back," the teen confessed hesitantly. "I was abused for ten years, and then every summer from the time I was eleven until last summer when I turned 17 and left home. My school headmaster left me on my aunt and uncle's doorstep when I was a year old knowing they most likely wouldn't treat me well. And then I nearly died every year at school. The only things that might tempt me to go back to England are Ron and Hermione, and I can easily take a portkey or floo to visit them. I have no family worth speaking of, and the press is going to look at me one of two ways: I'll either be praised as a hero for saving the wizarding world, or I'll be branded a coward and deserter for disappearing in the middle of battle. It's not worth going back if that's what I have to face." 

"I can't blame you there," Sam sympathized. "Have you talked to Draco about any of this?" 

"Not yet," said Harry with a shake of his head. "I'm almost afraid to. I haven't known him long enough to predict what his thoughts would be on this. At least not since we've been here. This Draco is a completely different Draco than the one I grew up with. But I meant what I said about us being godbrothers. I know he and I both have less than stellar families, and after everything that's happened I can't imagine he'd want to go back to it all." The young men drifted into silence, each thinking about the words the other had said and trying to glean some kind of answer from their depths. 

"I meant it too, you know," a voice startled the two in the study, and they turned to see Draco standing in the doorway, his hands tucked meekly in his pockets. Dean stood just behind the blond. 

"Meant what?" asked Harry. 

"What I said about us being godbrothers. Remember? I said that works for me. I meant it." 

Harry was stunned by this revelation. "Really?" 

Draco nodded. With a sigh, he took his hands out of his pockets and crossed the room to sit next to Harry. "You know what my family's like. The only person that would accept me after helping bring down the Dark Lord is my mother. My father wouldn't have anything to do with me, that is if he doesn't get thrown into Azkaban. Same with Aunt Bella, and the rest of the world would have me lynched just for having this on my arm." He brusquely dragged his shirt sleeve up to his elbow, revealing the Dark Mark branded on his forearm. "Never mind that I was forced to get it to protect myself and my family, and all because my father screwed up one too many times. No one will care that I didn't choose this. All they'll see is the Dark Mark and have me shipped off to Azkaban, if they don't just kill me on site. No, I don't have anything tying me back to England." 

"I guess that makes two of us," Harry agreed. 

"Not even Granger and Weasley?" 

Harry shook his head forlornly. "We could see each other easily. All we'd need is to floo or take a portkey." 

"So what do we do now? If we're not going back to England." 

"You could stay here." The teens turned their heads to the other side of the room, where the brothers stood. "If you want to, that is." 

Draco and Harry were caught off guard by Dean's sudden offer. "You serious?" Draco asked in disbelief. 

"No, he's Dean," Harry answered Draco's question, earning a smack to the arm from the other boy. 

"Not the time, Potter." Despite the admonishment, Harry was still chuckling under his breath at his own joke. "You need more sleep if you found it that funny." 

"You're probably right. But really," Harry turned to Sam and Dean, "did you mean it? About us staying here." 

"Yeah," Sam answered this time. "Dean and I have been talking about it for a little while, actually. If you want, you can stay with us, join us on the road. Or if you'd rather, we can get our own place and only go out on hunts occasionally. Now that we've killed the demon, our biggest reason for hunting is gone. There's no urgency anymore. We can just take hunts as we want." 

"As you've already seen," Dean spoke up, "this life ain't glamourous. We see a lot of crap. But I figure neither of you are strangers to that." 

"Nope. Not in the least," the boys agreed. 

"The choice is yours if you want to stay with us or not," Sam assured them. "Just know that whatever you decide, we're behind you all the way." 

Silence fell over the room as Harry and Draco pondered the Winchesters' offer. It was a good one, to be sure, and the boys felt they could do some good by helping the brothers on their hunts. As their eyes met, both boys knew they'd reached a decision. 

Three months later 

Hermione sat at the kitchen table at the Burrow. It was after lunchtime, so everyone was off doing their own thing, whether it be work or their favorite afternoon activity, which left Hermione sitting by herself. 

The solitude didn't bother her though. She rather liked the peace and quiet, which was a rarity in the ever boisterous Weasley home. 

As she was going through her belongings to take back to Hogwarts, Hermione heard footsteps coming down the creaky stairs. She was surprised to see her boyfriend enter the kitchen. "What are you doing in here? I thought you'd gone flying." 

Ron shrugged before greeting his girlfriend with a kiss on the cheek before dropping into a chair next to her. "I was, but I felt like coming inside. It's hot outside, even when I'm flying, so I decided to come on inside." He looked over the table and saw all the pieces of parchment, books, and other odds and ends Hermione had scattered in front of her. "What are you working on?" 

"Just organizing the things I want to take back to Hogwarts this term." 

"You do know you have more than a week before the term starts, right?" Ron chuckled when he received a smack on the head with the parchment Hermione had in her hand. 

At that moment, the fireplace roared, and green flames spat something out into the room before dying down again. Curious, the couple left the table to investigate and found a white envelope addressed to them both. 

"I wonder who sent it," Run mused as he looked over the odd envelope. It wasn't made of parchment like normal envelopes. 

"It's a muggle envelope," Hermione announced as she tore it open and pulled out the letter inside. "It's from Harry!" 

"Read it!" Hermione did as asked and began to read aloud. 

_Dear Ron and Hermione,_

 _How are the two of you doing? I hope all is well. I'm sure Hermione's already got everything packed up to go back to school._

Hermione paused as a blush colored her cheeks. Harry knew her too well. 

_I hope school goes well for you, Hermione, and I hope auror training doesn't kill you too badly, Ron. Just remember to pay attention to your instructors and I'm sure you'll do well._

"He's one to talk," Ron interjected grumpily, drawing a chuckle from Hermione. 

_Though I really can't say anything because I'm not much better. Which you know very well._

 _Draco and I are doing well. Dean and Sam are taking us on our first hunt. Well, our first official hunt. They don't count us helping them close the devil's gate in Wyoming as a hunt. At least Dean doesn't, and Sam, Draco, and I don't bother asking him why. We just go along with it._

 _Tell everyone I miss them and give them my love. Hopefully we'll get to visit sometime soon. We just have to convince Dean that portkeys are a safe way to travel and are nothing like muggle airplanes._

 _Just send any letters you want to write through the floo to Singer Salvage. We'll either get them next time we're there or Bobby will send them to us. I hope to hear back from you soon._

 _Love,_

 _Harry_

 _P.S. Draco says hi._

The postscript had the desired effect, as the teenagers couldn't hold in their laughter. "There's no way Malfoy said that," Ron said between chuckles. 

"No, I'm sure he didn't," Hermione agreed.

* * *

"You know good and well I didn't send them any greetings," Draco groused as Harry stood up from kneeling by the fireplace. 

"I know," Harry didn't deny it. Draco just rolled his eyes and turned to walk out. 

"Just hurry up. Dean and Sam are ready to leave." 

"Are all the bags packed?" 

"Yep. We're just waiting on you." The boys walked through the house and out the back door to the waiting Impala. Harry watched as Draco rolled the sleeves of his black henley down to his wrists and breathed a soft sigh. 

Draco had come a long way from the tormented boy he was just three months ago. No longer was he wearing the flashy robes that his family's wealth and status demanded, opting instead for dark jeans and long sleeve t-shirts and flannel button-downs. And though he still hid the Dark Mark from the public, Harry was glad that Draco had become comfortable enough with himself to let the tattoo show at home. Harry subconsciously rolled his own sleeves up to his elbows. 

When they got to the car, they found Dean leaning on the trunk. "You guys finally done fixing your hair or whatever it is you do that takes you so long to get ready?" he grumbled lightheartedly when he saw the boys. "We're burning daylight here." 

"It's only 8:00," Harry shot back. He opened the back door and he and Draco climbed in the car as Dean rounded the car to the driver's side. 

"Alright, let's go." Dean cranked up the radio, blasting Back in Black throughout the car. Harry and Draco shared a smile at the man's choice of music. They were off to a good start.

* * *

A/N: I haven't read Half-Blood Prince or Deathly Hallows yet, so I don't know for sure whether or not Draco got the Dark Mark. I read that it was never specified, but I decided to give him the Dark Mark to give him a little more character conflict. Thank you so much for reading, guys. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think in a review. No flames or dumb comments please.


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